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readingrobin 's review for:
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I gotta say this was pretty disappointing.
The first book became a landmark when it came to showcasing LGBTQ relationships in a way that meant something, that resonated with so many people in its honesty. It laid itself bare with its characters that felt so lost and yet so easily found themselves in each other.
This, well...about this.
Saenz took the philosophical aspect of the first and flanderized it until it felt like every character had a moment to stand on their own individual soapbox. There are so many topics discussed throughout the novel: the AIDS pandemic, racism, gender equality, sexism, homophobia, but none of them actually managed to land because none of them felt authentic. It felt so scattered in its messages that I felt like I was being told seven different messages at once. Of course, they're good messages, I agree with them, but they aren't presented in a way that provokes thought. It felt like a lecture, one that was being told over and over again but without anything new to say.
There were new characters that would show up for maybe a chapter or two and then disappear entirely.I'm not sure if he was in the first book, but Rico threw me for a loop. He appeared in one chapter and then the next time he's mentioned Ari's at his funeral? It's hinted that it was a suicide but I was so confused why the book was trying to make me care about a character we hadn't even really met. You really could have edited that part out and really nothing would have been lost. The new characters seem so hollow that they dont' even feel like real people.
I did like Ari's journey throughout the book. It felt like a natural extension of what he faced in the first book and the relationship between him and his father had a great emphasis placed on it. I'm sad that Dante never really broke out of being "the emotional one" in this book but I'm glad at least Ari had some growth.
Honestly, I don't think we needed a sequel, at least not done like this. The plot is messy and slow, the characters feel like faded versions of themselves, and it's trying to be everything at once, but ultimately achieves very little. The first books will always have a place in my heart and this one I'm just going to nudge to this side a bit.
The first book became a landmark when it came to showcasing LGBTQ relationships in a way that meant something, that resonated with so many people in its honesty. It laid itself bare with its characters that felt so lost and yet so easily found themselves in each other.
This, well...about this.
Saenz took the philosophical aspect of the first and flanderized it until it felt like every character had a moment to stand on their own individual soapbox. There are so many topics discussed throughout the novel: the AIDS pandemic, racism, gender equality, sexism, homophobia, but none of them actually managed to land because none of them felt authentic. It felt so scattered in its messages that I felt like I was being told seven different messages at once. Of course, they're good messages, I agree with them, but they aren't presented in a way that provokes thought. It felt like a lecture, one that was being told over and over again but without anything new to say.
There were new characters that would show up for maybe a chapter or two and then disappear entirely.
I did like Ari's journey throughout the book. It felt like a natural extension of what he faced in the first book and the relationship between him and his father had a great emphasis placed on it. I'm sad that Dante never really broke out of being "the emotional one" in this book but I'm glad at least Ari had some growth.
Honestly, I don't think we needed a sequel, at least not done like this. The plot is messy and slow, the characters feel like faded versions of themselves, and it's trying to be everything at once, but ultimately achieves very little. The first books will always have a place in my heart and this one I'm just going to nudge to this side a bit.